Women for Peace, Global Exchange and Gold Star Families for Peace will announce a historic hunger strike against the war in Iraq. At 5pm, they will sit down in front of the White House to eat their last meal and hold a press conference before beginning the fast at midnight. They will be present in front of the White House every day at 10am, starting on the morning of July 4.

"We've marched, held vigils, lobbied Congress, camped out at Bush's ranch. We've even gone to jail. Now it's time to do more," says peace mom Cindy Sheehan. "While others are celebrating July 4th with barbeques, we'll be showing our patriotism by putting our bodies on the line to bring our troops home."

Over 2700 celebrities, veterans, mothers, and concerned citizens across the country will also participate in a rolling fast over the summer, fasting as long as they are able and then passing the fast from person to person. Many will fast in solidarity from their hometowns, urging local leaders to stand for peace, including musicians Willie Nelson and Michael Franti, actors Danny Glover, Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon, Gulf War vet Michael McPherson, writer Alice Walker, and labor leader Dolores Huerta.

The organizers call on a long history of fasts for political purposes, claiming their place among the Suffragettes, Mahatmas Gandhi and Cesar Chavez. In honor of this rich history, the fasters will gather at the Gandhi memorial statue a Massachusetts and 21st NW on July 3 at 3pm, then march to Pennsylvania Avenue for the meal and press conference at 5pm.

Diane Wilson, who has engaged in several hunger strikes in her history as an environmental activist, says she will not set an end date to her fast. "My goal is to bring the troops home. I don't know how long I can fast, but I'm making this open-ended," she says. "I plan to take this as far as I've ever taken anything in my 58 years. I fear our future is at stake, and I'm ready to make a major sacrifice."

The rolling fast will last until September 21, International Peace Day, when activists around the country will initiate a week of nonviolent actions against the war as part of the Declaration of Peace.

It wasn't easy scooping out ice cream for the homeless while on our fast! But when we heard about the campaign "I Scream for the Homeless" that during the hot summer months offers ice cream to the homeless in our nation's capitol, we went to help out.

There we saw the devastating financial costs of this war. The $1.5 billion that the District of Columbia is paying for war could have paid for building 10,000 affordable housing units or provided 375 MILLION meals for the homeless! As homeless activist Arafa Speaks told us, "It's criminal that they're spending all this money killing people in Iraq and here at home people are dying on our streets because they don't have jobs or housing."

Diane Wilson, one of our long-term, water-only fasters, is committed to the "I Scream for the Homeless" project. "We'd make a lot more friends feeding people ice cream and bringing joy to the faces of people living desperate lives than bombing villages and abusing prisoners."

So every Friday we'll be out on the streets dishing out ice cream to show the homeless that we love them and demonstrate our commitment to reversing our nation's priorities from war to life-affirming efforts.